NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team was defeated by visiting Smith College, 17-8, this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference match at drizzly, cold Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 8-5 overall and 5-2 in NEWMAC play, while the Pioneers win their fourth straight game to improve to 9-6 and 5-3.
Prior to the match, Wheaton honored its senior class, paying tribute to Kilee Sherry (Gorham, Maine), Talia Banglmaier (Kennebunk, Maine), Megan Cuddy (Natick, Mass.), Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.), Cam Grondell (North Attleboro, Mass.), Sophie Gromala (Killingworth, Conn.) and Gabs Smart (Oakland, Maine).
Smith held a 36-31 shooting margin and was a perfect 17-17 in clearing attempts, while holding Wheaton to 12-16 on the clear.
The Lyons scored the first three goals of the game, before the Pioneers scored the final four of the opening quarter. Smith was consistent throughout the match, scoring at least four goals in every quarter, while the defense held Wheaton to just one marker in the second half.
Sophomore attacker Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.), junior attack Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.) and Finnie all netted a pair of goals for the Lyons. Qua added a ground ball and Finnie also picked up a ground ball and won a draw control. Gromala finished with a team-high three points, including two assists in addition to three ground balls and a draw control. Junior midfielder Katie Hallee (Norway, Maine) chipped in with a career-high five ground balls, a caused turnover and a draw control. Junior starting keeper Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) turned away five of 12 shots in 22:37 of action, while first year goalie Averie Walton (Cumberland, R.I.) stopped three of 10 shots in 27:42. Sophomore netminder Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) allowed three goals in 9:41 of play.
First year attacker Layna Fitzgerald (Indianapolis, Calif.) and junior midfielder Caroline Sanders (Boise, Idaho) each netted five goals to lead Smith. Sanders added five draw controls and three ground balls for the Pioneers, while Fitzgerald picked up a ground ball. Sophomore attacker Kyra Hawk (San Jose, Calif.) also contributed with four goals, two draw controls and a ground ball, while senior attacker Sadie Tschider (Piedmont, Calif.) registered two assists to give her 81 for her career to become Smith's all-time assist leader in program history. Junior goalie Brooke Testa (Pittstown, N.J.) recorded nine saves for Smith.
The Pioneers erased a three-goal deficit with the final four scores of the opening quarter to take a 4-3 edge. Hawk scored twice during the period-ending run, including a marker with 59 seconds left in the quarter to give Smith the lead.
Finnie tallied her 24th goal of the season to open the second quarter and pull Wheaton even with 11:25 to go in the period. Fitzgerald took advantage of the Lyons being down a player, due to a penalty, with a goal coming at 8:40, but Gromala answered just 35 seconds later to keep the match tied at 5-5 .
The Pioneers scored the next two goals to take the lead for good and spark a 12-3 run to close out the contest. Hawk and Sanders scored back-to-back markers, before Kilbourn countered for Wheaton to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 4:37 remaining in the second quarter. Smith first year attacker Jenna Paczkowski (Jupiter, Fla.) and Qua traded goals in a span of 42 seconds prior to the end of the half to send the Pioneers into the intermission with a one-goal advantage at 8-7.
Smith tallied all four goals in the third quarter, including the final three from Fitzerald, to give the visitors a 12-7 cushion heading into the fourth period. The Pioneers continued their momentum with the first four markers of the final quarter to give them eight straight, including first year midfielder Sienna Ferrucci's (Weston, Mass.) first collegiate goal at the 3:57 mark to give Smith a 16-7 lead.
The Lyons were held without a goal for a span of 27:49, before Kilbourn ended the Lyons' scoring drough with her second goal of the afternoon to pull the home team within 16-8 with 3:03 to play on the fourth quarter clock.
Sanders netted the final goal of the day for the Pioneers with the 100th of her career coming with 2:16 left in the game.
Wheaton scored the first three goals of the game within a span of 2:50 with markers from Cuddy, Finnie and Qua.
The Lyons will play again Wednesday, April 16 when they travel to Babson Park, Mass. to face league rival Babson College at 6:00 p.m., while Smith returns to action on the same day when they head to Boston, Mass. to take on NEWMAC foe Emerson College at the same time.
